A DISTRAUGHT woman has told of her heartache of having to say goodbye to two pets after they were poisoned in their own garden.

Carol-Ann Carson and her family – including fiancé Paul Reynolds, son Kyle McGuigan and her step-daughter – have been left shattered following the death of Duke, aged two, and one-year-old Daisy within 12 hours.

The playful pups ingested the poison in the family’s communal back garden and, despite vets battling to save the pair, they both had to be put to sleep in Carol-Ann’s arms.

She sobbed as she told the Clydebank Post: “They were wee characters. My son’s like a wee lost soul, they were such a big part of his life.

“The house is so empty, it’s left a big hole in the whole family. It’s hard, it’s so hard.”

Vets have stated the young dogs’ deaths are down to poisoning by slug pellets and now their 38-year-old owner is on a mission to find out what could have been done to prevent the tragedy.

Carol-Ann added: “The vets have said it’s not uncommon, they see it quite a lot, but I’m a fighter and they were my babies so I won’t give up.

“I’m not 100 per cent sure if you’re allowed to put out slug pellets in a communal garden because they’re highly toxic to kids as well.”

Carol-Ann had returned home from work around 10.30pm on July 15, just a few hours after Paul had taken the dogs out to the garden.

When she arrived home Duke – a Jack Russel and Lakeland Terrier cross – was shaking and Paul took the pair downstairs again – assuming the pup was in need of the toilet.

But things took a turn for the worst when Paul was forced to carry Duke back upstairs as he began to violently convulse.

The couple rushed their beloved dog to the emergency vets but by the time they arrived Jack Russel and Westie cross Daisy had also began to experience convulsions.

Carol-Ann said: “They took them away for what felt like forever and then the vets said they had to be heavily sedated but because Daisy was so small she wouldn’t survive, so we had to let her go.

“We had hoped Duke would survive but when they reduced the sedation he started convulsing straight away.

“They tried everything but said they didn’t know what state he would be in if he did wake up. We knew we didn’t want him to go through any more than he had to, so we asked them to keep him sedated until we go there so we could hold him as he went to sleep.”

Scottish SPCA inspector Jennifer Connolly added: “All legal poisons are supplied with strict guidelines for use and anyone who sets a poison without following the guidelines is committing an offence.

“Anyone who believes their dog may have ingested a poisonous substance should seek immediate veterinary attention.”